


Chocolate Frogs and Newspapers

by ABladeOfIves



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Cruciatus Curse, Death, Grief, Harry Potter - Freeform, Heaven, Hogwarts, Hospital, Magic, Memory, Ministry of Devine Health, Other, Professor Longbottom, voldemort - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 18:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8501389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ABladeOfIves/pseuds/ABladeOfIves
Summary: What if Neville Longbottom's parents could remember him after they die?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit patchy and I kinda hate it? But practice makes perfect and I really hope you give it a chance and enjoy. :) It's quite sad, so apologies. <3

"For goodness sake! Stop leaving your pot!" He had planted a miniature whomping willow for the fifth time. No matter how tightly it was confined in soil, it crawled back out, again and again. The Hufflepuffs gathered around him and laughed.   
"Professor! You've forgotten the soil again!"   
"What!?"  
Professor Longbottom peered into the pot and there wasn't a trace of soil to be found.  
"How on earth?"  
Before anyone could answer though, the room around him fell into a blur. It was cold and he could not hear them.  
"Neville?" asked a young woman's voice. "Neville!?"

"Neville!", Mr. Longbottom was awoken abruptly at his desk. Professor Vector, a considerably older woman, stood over him, her hand resting gently on his shoulder.   
"Forgive me, Septima", he yawned, "I've had the weirdest dream."

There was something sympathetic about how she looked at him.  
"Neville, I think you better follow me. Professor McGonagall needs a word."   
"What's the matter?" he asked.  
She waved her hand and declined to answer. He followed her up the staircases and all the way to a ghastly gargoyle.  
"Nimbus!"  
They entered onto a spiral staircase which lead to the headmasters office.  
"Afternoon, Minerva."   
"Afternoon, Neville." Her voice was thinner than usual and she did not stand to greet him. "Take a seat perhaps? Septima, may I have a moment alone with Professor Longbottom?"

When the heavy oak door closed, her gaze fell to his face. She wasn't angry, she looked more reluctant.   
"Neville, I'm afraid I have some... difficult... news to deliver. You should've been told first..." Her mouth formed a thin line, "...but as Headmaster I've been asked to inform you instead, regardless of your position in our school. Would you like a drink first?"

He felt a heavy dread weigh down on his chest. Perhaps he had been expecting this news for quite some time. But surely it wasn't that. It couldn't have been. He would've found out sooner. They would've told him directly. 

"What haven't I been told Professor?"   
"As you know Neville, the Ministry of Divine Health are still under an immense amount of pressure. They still lack a lot paperwork since Voldemort's return. When certain events occur, they can't quite manage to contact everyone just yet. That's why they've trusted me to tell you."  
"To tell me what?" he asked.  
She hesitated for a long moment. "Alice Longbottom, your mother, she passed away this morning."

They both fell into silence. Neville stared at his robes, refusing to look at her. He felt his eyes burning.  
"Neville, I'm so sorry."  
"I'd like to leave, Professor."  
"You'll be on a full paid leave for the next two weeks, would you... would you like a drink?"  
"No, thanks."  
"I know she meant a lot to you."  
"Excuse me, I should pack my things."  
He stood, still refusing to look at the headmaster and left for his room. 

***  
*Four days earlier*

The dark haired man sat at her bedside again. She couldn't remember his name, but he was a nice man.  
"How are you Alice?" he asked.  
She smiled at him vaguely and began to look around her hospital bed. Various photographs and newspaper cuttings were stuck to the walls. She found her favourite picture of a young woman with a pixie cut, smiling and waving at her. 

She pointed at it and grinned at the dark haired man. "Me." She said.  
"I know." He replied. "And who's this?"   
The dark haired man pointed to an old news article on her bedside table.   
"Rita Skeeter Exclusive: Neville Longbottom speaks about The Battle or Hogwarts, killing Nagini and what the future holds."

"Dinner time!" A short, middle aged nurse made her way down the corridor. "Visiting hours begin again at five Mr. Longbottom!"  
The dark haired man sighed and stood up.  
"Yes, well. I'll see you later then." He waved at the old woman in the bed and made his way to the door.

"Wait! WAIT!"  
He turned on his heel to catch Alice struggle to stand up.  
"Ah, yes. Settle down Alice, don't hurt yourself." He stretched out his hand, and she handed him a crumpled up toffee wrapper.  
"Yours." She told him.  
"Thank you."

"You can give him sweet wrappers later Mrs. Longbottom, he'll be back this afternoon."  
Alice looked at her nurse with a confused expression.  
"Who will be?"

He sighed and made his way to the door. As he reached the much colder corridor outside, he headed to the lift and and found his way to the cafeteria. Ordered the usual hot butterbeer and treacle tart for himself and four chocolate frogs. He'd gift the frogs to Alice, as he always did.

He remembered his first butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks when he was fourteen. That was the same place where the first D.A. meeting was held. He distinctly remembered listening to Harry Potter and Hermoine Granger speak about their goals as an "army". He remembered when he had first successfully disarmed his opponent in the Room of Requirement. He remembered telling Harry why he was there, why he worked so hard. He remembered seeing Alice and Frank Longbottom, members of The Order of the Phoenix, silently cheering him on from the photograph on the mirror.

The clock struck five and Neville returned to his mothers hospital ward. He caught the nurse from earlier before he entered.   
"How is she?" he asked.  
"Not too good, I'm afraid. She's been coughing throughout the night."  
"Right... Well-"  
"Mr. Longbottom..." she interrupted, "I think you should prepare yourself. We've been expecting the worst for a while now. You're aware of that-"  
"If you'll excuse me", he ignored her and paced over to Alice's bedside.

The old woman pointed to a photograph of a young smiling woman with a pixie cut. "Me." She smiled.  
"I know", said the man and he handed her four chocolate frogs. She smiled and clapped.


	2. Pride and Sympathies

The noise of the clock on the wall began to drown out. She stopped coughing and she closed her eyes.   
She knew what was happening, and she welcomed it. It was time. She breathed in once more and relaxed. She was warm and her clothes felt lighter on her body.

She opened her eyes and the bedside table wasn't there any more. She was somewhere else. Somewhere she recognised, yet didn't. It looked like her old living room but all was dressed in white.  
"Frank sent me instead I'm afraid."  
A white haired man in white robes appeared next to her.  
"Albus?" Her own voice surprised her. It was softer than usual.  
"Back to your old self I see. I notice, when we pass on, we are often returned to our best state. Although, I am still quite old."  
"Pass on? So I am..."  
"Dead? Indeed."

She had not seen that kind old man for years. Not since the Order... then it all flooded back. She remembered the handsome man she met in the Great Hall. She remembered their first evening they spent alone in the little cafe, just around the corner from the joke shop. She remembered marrying him. She remembered holding her baby son for the first time.

"Neville ..." she whispered.  
"Neville? I believe he has become a Professor at Hogwarts. Quite fitting, I suppose."   
It all came back so fast. The little boy who grew up at her bedside. The confident teenager who handed her newspaper articles about the defeat of the Dark Lord. The brave man who killed the last Horcrux and became a hero. Her Neville. Her baby boy.

"Neville, my son."  
"Yes. A very brave boy. Quite a talent in Herbology I recall."  
"I have to tell him."  
"I'm afraid, Alice, some things are meant to wait."  
"Albus, please. He took care of me for so long. He deserves to know." 

Albus peered around the identical living room. He spotted a comfortable armchair.  
"Do you mind?" he asked.  
"No, go ahead", she told him. He took a seat and peered around again.  
"I suppose...", he began, "...I suppose there is way. It can only last a couple of seconds however."  
"Please, Albus."

***

He should have prepared himself. He was told time and time again for months that she didn't have long. Why didn't he listen? Why did he ignore the warning signs? An owl arrived at his window that afternoon. Several sympathy cards and a magazine. He sat on his trunk and read through them. 

"So sorry for your loss. Write to me is you need anything! - Septima."

"Dearest sympathies. Wishing you peace and happiness in the near future. - Pomona Sprout."

"I'm so sorry Neville, we're here if you need us! - Harry and family."

"I'm sorry about your mum. Come over for some tea and cake whenever you like! - Hagrid."

"Dear Neville, it was with a heavy heart that I received the news about your mother. We should catch up soon. Please write to me if you need anything. - Your friend, Hermoine Granger."

"Take all of the time off that you need. The staff here at Hogwarts offer our deepest sympathies and understanding. - Minerva McGonagall."

He wiped his eyes and idly flipped through the magazine before heading upstairs to bed. He didn't feel like unpacking nor did he care if it was early. He just wanted to sleep.   
"Page six - Neville Longbottom, the man who destroyed the last Horcrux, says his last goodbye to mother."  
He sighed, threw the magazine in a bin and headed to bed. He crawled under the covers, covered head and screwed his eyes shut. 

Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs danced around him, whomping willows crawling out of their pots. He poured pounds of soil all over them but it kept disappearing, and the Hufflepuffs laughed. He could hear Draco Malfoy egging them on. Crabbe and Goyle threw papers and tried to distract him from teaching. They casted spells and ruined all of the plants.

But before he could shout or complain, everything fell to a blur, and he couldn't hear.

"Neville! Neville we're so proud."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end. Please leave a kudos and/or comment if you enjoyed it in any way. Feedback is also appreciated as I am practicing and trying to improve so I can write professionally. Thank you. xx


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